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Containing Fantasy

© Barbara M. Martin

Fame is fleeting and, so they say, is beauty That's often too true in gardenspeak since despite the changing seasons and weather patterns our gardens are supposed to be beautiful all the time. This dreamland ideal is hard to keep up with, especially at the end of summer. Yet the magazines are still showing us gorgeous photos of real life gardens. How do they do it?

I'm all for garden magic, and almost anything is possible with an open pocketbook and a good photographer. I'm sure Derek Fell could make the local gas station median strip planting look good. But as long as we are examining the glossy pictures, reading the breathy text and wanting to bring those glorious gardens home, let's stop to analyse what's really there in plain dirt ... and what's not. If you look carefully, you will notice container plants abound. Gardens to Go is a great example.

Keep in mind that a lovely magazine, that irresistible read full of timely gardening information for folks to take home and use right now, is purposely made to sell fantasy along with a few ads. So let's be just a bit realistic for just a moment.

Quickly now: How many climate zones are there in North America let alone on the planet? Do you plan your photo shoot a year in advance and spend months preparing your garden for it? Do you have a professionally installed and maintained irrigation system? Unlimited skilled garden help?

I thought not.

And since we live where we live and garden where we garden and can only control so much, my best immediate solution to all the gardening ills that ail you is: try some containers. Containers can be plain or fancy, classical or funky. They can fill a gap, replace a laggard, change a color, add some texture, add some height, add some impact, change the mood. Best of all, they're portable.

Yes! Quick fix par excellence! Immediate, easy, relatively cheap and effective for a good three months at a time, no matter where you live. Invest in some good-looking containers and plants to complement your garden style, and let yourself go - it's quick and it's fun.

It's true: Container plantings need to be rotated to keep the display in peak performance. It's garden magic, plain and simple. Some of the plants can be recycled as perennials into the garden, others must be recycled through the compost heap when their time is up, but they are all so endearing they earn their place regardless.

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